Bloom-tumbling tool



April 9, 1957 s. MisluRA BLOOM-TUMBLING TOOL Filed Oct. 8, 1954 [NVE/VTUR. BRUN/MAW M/s/UHA,

his Afflarney.

BLOOM-TUMBLING TOOL Bronislaw Misiura, Duquesne, Pa., assignor to UnitedStates Steel Corporation, a corporation of New Jersey ApplicationOctober 8, 1954, Serial No. 461,216

1 Claim. (Cl. 294-17) This invention relates to a tool in the nature ofa canthook for tumbling or rotating heavy steel billets and blooms.

Billets or blooms rolled from steel ingots into substantially square orrectangular sections generally have surface defects that must be removedby chipping or grinding before further rolling. In the removal of suchsurface defects, the blooms are commonly supported on skids while theirsurfaces are finished by a workman. After one surface has been finished,the bloom is rotated through `an angle of 90 to present a new surfacefor finishing operation.

Cant-hooks are commonly employed to turn or tumble blooms on theirsupporting skids. One form of tool which has been in use for many yearsfor this purpose is shown in Patent No. 2,132,553. As shown in thepatent, the tool was intended to be applied to a bloom with itsoperating lever in a horizontal position so that the bloom would berolled away from the workman applying a lifting force to the lever.However, this tool is capable of being applied with its operating leverin a vertical position so that a bloom could be rotated by an operatorpulling on the lever. Upon slippage of the tool from engagement with thebloom when operated in this manner, the operator would in some casesfall backwardly and at times pull the bloom on himself with seriousinjury. The nature of the forces involved and resulting in such injurieswill be better appreciated when consideration is given to the manualeffort required to rotate a bloom having a weight of from i000 to 3000pounds.

One of the principal objects of this invention is to provide abloom-tumbling tool having improved provisions for preventing slippagewhen in operating engagement with a bloom to be turned.

A further object of the invention is to provide a bloomtumbling toolwith clamping jaws in the nature of corner hooks which are engaged withdiametrically opposite corners of the bloom and in which the tumblingforce applied to the bloom increases the clamping engagement of the jawswith the corners of the bloom.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a bloom-tumblingtool with bloom clamping jaws which must be sprung apart in order to bemoved into clamping engagement with a bloom and which are so arrangedrelative to each other that application of the tool with its tumblinglever in a vertical position is discouraged.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description.

in the drawings, there is shown a preferred embodiment and a modied formof the invention. In this showing:

Figure l is a side elevational view of the preferred embodiment of thetool of this invention illustrating in dotted lines the manner in whichit is applied to a bloom;

Figure 2 is a plan view of a bracket used in the tool of Figure 1 andFigure 3 is a side elevation thereof; and

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 1 of a modified form of theinvention.

As shown in the drawings, the tumbling tool is formed nited StatesPatenti 2,788,237 .i'Pate-nterd Apr'.` 1957 of a pair of clamping jawsor bloom gripping corner hooks 1 and 2. The jaw 2 has a U-shape havingL- shaped corners 3 and 4 for gripping engagement with the two cornersof a billet B along the bottom side thereof supported on skids S asviewed in Figures 1 and 4. The jaw 1 has the shape of an agle providingan L-shaped corner 5 for engagement with the corner of the billet at oneend of a side thereof the opposite end of which is gripped by the corner3. The leg 6 of the jaw 1 is integral with and extends in a directionnormal to the axis of the operating lever 7.

The jaw 2 is mounted for pivotal movement with respect to the jaw 1 by apivot 8 extending between the side iianges of a bracket 9 secured to thelever 7. As best shown in Figures 2 and 3, the bracket 9 has a `U- shapeand is comprised of a web and spaced parallel side flanges 11. The anges11 have openings 12 in which the pivot pin 8 is supported. The web iscut away at 13 to provide a space through which the leg 6 of the bracket1 extends. The bracket 9 is rigidly secured to the lever 7 in theposition shown in Figures l and 4 as by welding.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention shown in Figure l, a leafspring 15 has one end secured to the lever 7 and its other end engagedwith a lug 16 extending outwardly from the jaw 2 for biasing the jaw 2to the pivotal position shown in solid lines. ln the modified form shownin Figure 4, the jaw 2 has a gravitational bias to a similar positionwhich is provided by a counterweight 17 connected with the U-shaped jaw2 and extending outwardly from the pivot S. The tools of bothmodications are applied to a billet B by forcing the tool upwardly andoutwardly with respect to the billet to spread the jaws 1 and 2 apartfor engagement of the jaw 1 and its corner 5 over one top corner of thebillet and engagement of the jaw 2 with the bottom corners as shown indotted lines. When the tool is moved to its engaged position as shown indotted lines, the bias of the counterweight 17 or spring 15 is effectiveto maintain the jaws in gripping engagement with the corners of thebillet and particularly the diametrically opposite corners thereofengaged by the angle 4 on the jaw 2 and the angle 5 on the jaw 1. Afterengagement with the billet in this manner, the application of an upwardforce to the lever 7 will be effective to rotate the billet in aclockwise direction as viewed in Figures 1 and 4. Such turning forcewill tend to move the jaws 1 and 2 about the pivot 8 in a directiontoward each other and thus increase the clamping engagement of theircorners 4 and 5 with the billet. The tool of this invention thus reducesthe possibility of slippage while being used to cant a bloom and thuseliminates a source of injury to the workman.

The tools shown in Figures l and 4 are most effectively applied to thebloom from the bottom thereof as shown in the drawings. When applied inthis manner, the operating lever projects outwardly from the front faceof the bloom so that it may be turned only by lifting upwardly on thebloom to rotate it away from the workman. This feature discourages theapplication of the tool in other positions such that its operation toturn a bloom will result in movement of the bloom toward the workman. Itwill thus be apparent that the tool of this invention in this respecteliminates another source of injury to the operator.

ln an operative tumbling position on :a bloom B, as shown in dottedlines in Figures l and 4, the L-shaped jaw or turning member 1 iscomprised of a horizontal arm 1a which extends inwardly over and engagesa portion of the top face of the bloom and a vertical arm 1b whichengages and extends downwardly over the front face of the bloom to apoint substantially centrally thereof. The turning lever 7 is integrallyconnected with the bottom of the vertical arm 1b and, as describedabove, extends outwardly therefrom in a direction normal to the bloomfront face.

The tJ-shaped turning member 2 is comprised of a horizontal arm 2a and apair of integral vertical arms 2b and The vertical arm 2b extendsdownwardly over and engages a portion of the front face of the bloom andhas its upper end terminating at a point below the longitudinal axisffthe turning lever 7. The pivot 8 and bracket 9 connect the upper end ofthe leg 2b to the lever 7 for pivotal movement relative thereto. Thisarrangement of course locates the pivot 3 and the axis of pivotalmovement of the U-shaped turning member 2 at a point below the center ofthe bloom as shown in the drawings.. The horizontal arm 2a of theU-shaped member 2 is integrally connected with the lower yend of theVertical arm 2b and extends inwardly over and engages the lower face ofthe bloom. At the outer end of the horizontal arm 2a, the leg 2c extendsvertically upwardly over and engages a portion of the back face `of thebloom. In this operative turning position of the lever l, these parts ofthe turning members land 2 thus embrace all four faces of the bloom Bfor a turning movement thereof upon application of an upward force tothe lever 7 as described above,

While several embodiments of my invention have been ,shown and describedit will be apparent that other adaptations and modiiications may be madewithout departing from the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

A tool for tumbling square steel blooms which in operative tumblingposition on a bloom comprises a rst turning member of L-shape includinga horizontal arm extending inwardly over and engaging a portion of thetop face ot said bloom and a vertical arm extending downwardly over thefront face of said bloom to a point substantially centrally thereof,said vertical arm engaging a portion of said front face, a manuallyoperable turning lever connected with the bottom of said vertical armand extending horizontally outwardly therefrom in a direction normal tosaid bloom front face, a second turning member of U-shape including avertical arm extending downwardly over and engaging a portion of thefront face of said bloom with its upper end terminating at a point belowthe longitudinal axis of said lever, means including a pivot connectinglsaid upper end to said lever for pivotal movement relative thereto,said U-shaped member further incndng a horizontal arm integrallyconnected with the lover end of said last-named vertical arm andextending inwardly over and engaging a portion of the lower face of saidbloom, and a vertical arm connected with the outer end of saidlast-named horizontal arm and extendupwardly over and engaging a portionof the back tace of said bloom, and means biasing the pivotal movementof said U-shaped turning member about said pivot to an operative turningposition.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED kSTATES PATENTS102,087 Bruso Apr. 19, 1870 L66,912 Schofield lan. l2, 1892 530,361Smith et al. Dec. 4, 1894 1,006,348 Beran Oct. 17, 191.1 1,563,255 CouchNov. 24, 1925 2,132,553 Andrejchak Oct. 11, 1938 2,210,904 Durant Aug.13, 1940 2,655,064 Simon et al. Oct. 13, 1953 FORElGN PATENT-S 10,374Sweden Nov. 18, 1899

